Fastener



D. HERMANSON.

FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 15. 1918.

Patented Feb. 17,1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DORA HERMANSON, OF ALBERT LEA, MINNESOTA.

FASTENER.

Application filed April 15, 1918,.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DORA HERMANsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Albert Lea, in the county of Freeborn and State of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to straps for invalids and aims to provide a strap adapted to be secured to a bedstead and by means of which a patient lying upon the bed may be assisted to a sitting position, the strap also being adapted to be placed around the shoulders of the patient for support in such position.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide in connection with the strap a novel form of buckle for its adjustment, the buckle embodying means for preventing its accidental unfastening, so as to guard against the tall of the patient when being supported by the strap, said means consisting of a spring located beneath the buckle tongue for automatically closing the latter after the loop member of the buckle has been inserted beneath the tongue.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a strap and buckle constructed in accordance with the present invention; and shown secured to a fragmentary portion of a bedstead;

Fig. 2 is an inner face view of the buckle with the members separated; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, the strap which is indicated at 10 and which may be formed of any suitable material such as woven yarn is shown as secured around the rods 11 of a bedstead and has its free ends fastened together by means of a buckle 12, the strap being of sufficient length to extend within convenient reach of a person lying upon the bed.

A particular point of novelty of the invention resides in the construction of the buckle which includes a loop member 13 and a tongue member 14 secured respectively to each end of the strap. The loop member is formed with a tongue engaging bar 15 and a strap engaging bar 16, the latter being Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 17, 1920.

Serial No. 228,754.

cylindrical and having each of its ends secured to the tongue engaging bar by bending the extremities 17 therearound in the manner shown. One end of the strap 10 is designed to be passed around the bar 16 in the form of a loop, the free end of the strap being secured to the central bar 18 of a slide 19, which is movable along the strap for the purpose of adjusting its length.

The tongue member 14 of the buckle is slotted as shown at 20 to provide a bar 21 around which the opposite free end of the strap 10 is secured. The opposite edge of the member 14 is provided with a tongue 22, for engagement with the bar 15, the said tongue extending inwardly over the body portion of the member 14.

In order to retain the bar 15 in engagement with the tongue, the member 14 is pro vided with a slot 23 located parallel to and adjacent the slot 20 to provide a bar 24, around which is secured one end of a fiat spring The opposite end or" this spring extends beneath and engages the end face of a tongue 22, so that when the bar 15 is passed beneath the tongue and beyond the end of the spring, the latter will automati cally return to its engagement with the end face of the tongue and prevent the accidental removal of the loop member. This effectually guards against the accidental opening of the buckle, so that any danger of the two members becoming disengaged when the weight of the patient is placed thereon is obviated.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is A buckle comprising a body member, means formed on the body member for the attachment of a strap, a tongue carried by said body member, a loop member adapted for engagement with said tongue and a spring plate having one end engageable through alined parallel slots formed in the body member and defining a bar having its opposite free end located beneath and engaging the tongue to retain the loop member in position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. 100

MISS DORA HERMANSON. 

